External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reiterated that India’s decision to purchase oil from Russia is based on its national interest and other countries should respect that instead of questioning it. Additionally, the topic of India’s purchase of Russian oil has been raised many times and faced criticism by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
EAM S Jaishankar hit out at the West for its “selective approach” towards Russia. Referring to Europe, Jaishankar said “this part of the world” has to understand that every part of the world has its own interests. Slamming Europe, the EAM questioned why Europe has itself not cut its businesses with Russia, if it’s a matter of principles. An Italy-based newspaper reported that the foreign minister underlined Europe’s “unreasonable expectations” from other parts of the world, while its own disengagement with Russia has been very “selective.”
“This part of the world has to understand that every part of the world has its interests. The priorities of Europe will naturally differ from the ones of countries in Asia or Africa or Latin America. If everything is a matter of such a deep principle, then Europe itself should have cut off all its business with Russia, but it doesn’t do that. It’s been very selective and paced its disengagement very, very carefully. So to say this region (Europe) will worry about its people, and others should not worry about what the impact will be on them, is not reasonable,” the Italian newspaper quoted Jaishankar as saying.
He further asked that why should India “pay higher prices just to make you (Europe) happy.””And please understand one thing. Europe was importing energy from Russia. Europe then started diverting to other producers and that put pressure on the market. So what are we supposed to do? Pay higher prices just to make you happy? Life is about respecting other people’s interests, not about having everything your way,” the EAM further said.
Upon being asked about India’s role on resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Jaishankar further said that New Delhi advocates for the end of war by engaging in dialogue and diplomacy. Jaishankar emphasised India’s efforts in resolving the conflict and pointed out that a solution can’t be found on the battlefield. He also highlighted that unless Moscow and Kyiv don’t sit on the negotiation table, no one can get to know what the two sides want.
Comments